Wednesday, April 14, 2010

You can't really call him a kid, but you can definitely call him the man tonight. Greg Smith did it all. 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K. That's just the pitching side. At the dish: 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R. Showed some nice wheels on the bases beating out a possible DP to get his second RBI. There's a lot to like about his athletic ability and all the ways he can help the team win games.

He gets paid to pitch though, and wow, like I've been saying all spring, the stuff he has in his arm is big league caliber. He can make good hitters look silly when he's confident and in rhythm. That's exactly what he was tonight.

For him to roll out there like he was tonight, getting into that seventh inning, has to make all of us feel better about where this team can go. So many of the top notch clubs are looking to to find a solid 4th or 5th. The Rockies have six if Francis is healthy. As it stands, they have five.
Hat tip to Jim Tracy as well for rolling with Smith. It would have been easy to move a couple things around with the off days, but he stuck right with his rotation, and Greg Smith rewarded him.

Seth Smith

The Rockies outfield depth took a hit when CarGo left on Sunday. He's day-to-day. It took another hit tonight when Brad Hawpe left with a tight quad. That's definitely a problem, but it's not a disaster thanks to Seth Smith and Ryan Spilborghs.

Seth did the damage tonight with the HR and the double. Though Spilly kept the line moving with a couple walks. I'm not telling Rockies fans anything they don't know, but anyone reading who for whatever reason isn't familiar with either guy, they can hit. And there aren't more than 4-5 teams that neither man could start for.

Patience

The Rockies did strikeout eleven times today. That's a little bit on the high side. However, the nine walks they drew were a great sign they're getting locked into their ABs. You know Todd Helton (2 walks) will give you those professional ABs, but it's really nice to see them from Tulowitzki (2 walks) and especially Ian Stewart (2 walks). That's a credit to Don Baylor.

More Mess Mets

Mets stay in town for two more days. :) They'll get a look at Aaron Cook's sinker while the Rockies will attempt to figure out lefty Jon Niese. More on that tomorrow afternoon.